Relations between Preschool Teachers’ Language and Gains in Low Income English Language Learners’ and English Speakers’ Vocabulary, Early Literacy and Math Skills
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55370/hsdialog.v16i4.130Keywords:
language, literacy, math developmentAbstract
This study explores whether the quality of Head Start teachers’ language fosters gains in children’s vocabulary, literacy, and math skills, and whether the pattern is similar for low income English language learners and English speakers. Children (N=191) attended two urban Head Start Centers. The CLASS (language modeling) was used to observe the quality of teachers’ language. Children’s skills were assessed in the fall and spring on measures of expressive and receptive vocabulary, early literacy, and math skills. The pattern of results differed for English language learners and English speakers and across outcome measures. The quality of teachers’ language predicted gains in English language learners’ receptive and expressive vocabulary, but not that of English speakers. In addition, the receptive vocabulary of the English language learners predicted gains in their phonological awareness and math skills. The relation between teachers’ language and children’s print knowledge was moderated by their receptive vocabulary. That is, the quality of teachers’ language predicted gains in print knowledge only among those children who had higher vocabulary scores. These results underscore the role that teachers’ language can play and the importance of children’s vocabulary for their early academic development.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This Agreement (the Agreement) is made by and between __________(“Author(s)â€) and "Dialog†(the “Journalâ€).
Author Agreement
By submitting this research article entitled “_____________†('article')to (Dialog) published by the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the Author(s) certify that:
I. Warranties:
A.  Author  __________(name)  is legally authorized and possesses full power and authority on behalf of my co-authors [list names] to enter into this Agreement.
B. Author warrants, on behalf of all article authors, that:
a. the article is original, has not been formally published in any other peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration for publication by any other journal and does not infringe any existing copyright or any other third party rights;
b. The named authors (above) are the sole author(s) of the article. Any co-author not signing this Agreement personally has granted full authority to [named author in I.A.] to enter into this agreement of his/her behalf and to grant the following rights to Dialog set forth below.
c. the article contains nothing that is unlawful, libellous, or which would, if published, constitute a breach of contract.
II.Copyright
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
a. Author(s) shall retain copyright to the article but grant the Journal right of first publication, and the irrevocable right to perpetually disseminate the article as part of the Journal subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License, that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b. Beginning one year after the date of formal publication of the article, Authors may enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work and subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), subject to a proper acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal: “This article was originally published in the Dialog (Vol., Issue, Year).â€
III. Indemnification.
Author shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Journal from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, expenses (including attorneys’ fees and expert costs’, penalties, fees, if any arising from enforcement of this Agreement and/or related to claims of infringement of copyrights or proprietary rights allegedly contained in the Article  , or resulting from a claim of defamation, obscenity, or invasion of privacy based upon or arising out of the publication of the Article or any other breach of warranty as set forth in No. 1.
